Teo Blašković founded The Watchers in 2011 and edited it until 2026, covering seismic and volcanic activity, extreme weather, space weather and near-Earth objects. Articles on this page are his archive.
A very deep earthquake, registered by the USGS as M6.8, hit south of the Fiji Islands at 09:38 UTC on November 9, 2022. The agency is reporting a depth of 630 km (391 miles). The quake was followed by M7.0 earthquake at 09:51 UTC at a depth of 670 km (416 miles). EMSC reports M6.8 at a depth of 629 km (390 miles) and M6.8 at 655 km (406 miles).
A strong and shallow earthquake registered by Nepal’s National Earthquake Monitoring and Research Center (NEMRC) as M6.6 hit the Doti district in the Sudurpaschim Province, Nepal at 20:27 UTC on November 8, 2022 (02:12 LT, November 9). The National Center for Seismology in India is reporting M6.3 at a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles). The USGS and EMSC are reporting M5.6 at a depth of 15.7 km (9.7 miles) / 10 km (6.2 miles).
A shallow earthquake registered by the EMSC as M5.6 hit near the coast of Rimini, central Italy at 06:07 UTC on November 9, 2022. The agency is reporting a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles). The USGS is reporting the same magnitude and depth.
This fireball — brighter than the full moon — streaked through the night sky over southern France at 00:00 UTC on November 6, 2022.
A bright daylight fireball was seen over Arizona, U.S. at around 18:48 UTC on November 6, 2022 (11:47 MST). The event was recorded on video and registered by GOES-East and -West satellites.
Subtropical Storm “Nicole” formed northeast of the Bahamas at 09:00 UTC on November 7, 2022. The system is forecast to be near or at hurricane intensity by the time it reaches the northwest Bahamas and the Florida peninsula, U.S.
There is increasing confidence that a significant winter storm will affect parts of the Northern Plains later this week. While uncertainty into the exact track and strength of this system remains, it is likely that some areas will receive heavy snow, sleet, and freezing rain.
A very bright fireball was observed over Portugal and Spain at 22:42 UTC on November 2, 2022. This bright meteor was recorded in the framework of the SMART project, operated by the Southwestern Europe Meteor Network (SWEMN) from the meteor-observing stations located at Huelva, La Hita, CAHA, OSN, La Sagra, Sevilla, and El Aljarafe.
A moderately strong solar flare measuring M5.2 at its peak erupted from Active Region 3141 at 00:11 UTC on November 7, 2022. A Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) was produced during the event but the location of this region does not favor Earth-directed CMEs.
A new analysis published in Science shows the eruption at Hunga Tonga–Hunga Haʻapai volcano in Tonga on January 15, 2022, created the highest volcanic plume ever recorded. This is the first time a volcanic plume has been seen to penetrate the stratopause.
